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There’s no doubt that as a bride-in-planning myself, I search the depths of Pinterest and of course, our very own galleries for unique little touches. But the weddings I come back to time and again are simple and sweet, with subtle pieces of pretty that will sneakily steal your heart, like this affair from Jacqui Cole. Little pink bows on silverware, a basic but beautiful naked cake and effortless white florals… all together, it makes for a lovely day.

From Jacqui Cole…My absolute favorite weddings to capture are when the couples stay true to themselves. It’s so easy to get caught up scrolling through Pinterest and clinging to the current wedding trends. Although they are great forms of inspiration, the key is to stick to the wedding elements that you genuinely love and take it from there!

Keri and Connor did just this.From the ‘Roth’ vineyard wine bottles to the timeless details it was just the perfect wedding for them. The men’s navy suits tied in with their blush/navy/tan color theme. It certainly added a unique touch and perfectly complemented the garden wedding. Keri chose her rose gold wedding band to go with her platinum engagement ring. When I asked her where she got the idea she simply said she saw it at the jewelers and just loved it! Her Jimmy Choo flats were absolutely stunning! Keri was able to party the night away without relinquishing style :)

Personal touches throughout the wedding day are so important. Keri had her mothers wedding dress lace wrapped around her bouquet as her ‘something old’ and she wore her Grandmothers ring as her ‘something blue’. As the new Mr and Mrs Roth, each reception table had ‘Roth’ vineyard wine bottles, filled with babies breath and ivory roses. Such a simple, yet elegant centerpiece. Their naked-cake was the focal point of the room! Neither Keri or Connor like cake icing so this wedding-trend fell perfectly into their hands!

Above all the entire wedding day was filled with so much love and emotion. The rain swept over and the clouds parted just before the garden ceremony took place. It was such a joy to capture an incredible couple becoming husband and wife after 10 years together. Congratulations Mr and Mrs Roth!

I’m one of those sappy romantics that believes in fate, true love and all things meant-to-be. One of those ladies who can’t seem to ever get enough of a romantic story (here’s to you, Jane Austen) or a fabulous, love-filled wedding. And when I meet two cuties as sweet as this adorable duo captured by Ashley Biess Photography, my day jumps from amazing to outrageously happy. Because these are the type of sweethearts that have a story that is beyond movie-worthy (hint: they met in pre-school) and a wedding that is chock-full of pretty. See it all in the full gallery.

From Ashley Biess Photography… About 20 years ago, Emily, JT and the rest of their pre-school class gathered around the playground for a class photo. Everyone smiled for the camera and then resumed back to their games and play time. It was Emily and JT’s first photo together; and while they didn’t know it at the time, it would certainly not be their last. These two little pre-schoolers would meet again later in life, and someday become best friends and husband and wife.

Emily and JT’s wedding, in one word, was perfect. It was the most beautiful Spring day at the Morton Arboretum, where guests gathered in the Hedge Garden to watch the couple’s knot tying ceremony. The vibrant yellow flowers and handcrafted decor made the sunny day shine even brighter. JT’s heartfelt vows to his bride had everyone in tears. Guests applauded and cheered as JT and Emily shared their first married kiss.

At their reception, beauty was everywhere to be found! Everything from the flowers to the handmade decorations to the room itself at the Morton Arboretum were perfect for their summery wedding. The room looked effortlessly gorgeous and fit perfectly with their personalities, style, and story. Emily’s pinwheels were found as both decor and escort cards, leading guests to their tables. Friends and family wrote well wishes to the couple on Jenga pieces, so that Emily and JT can reread the happy notes every time they play. My favorite detail was JT’s home brewed beer and root beer, appropriately titled Something Brewed, that he made special for all of their guests. It was a big hit!

From the Bride… One of my favorite memories of the day was hearing my husband’s vows to me and all the emotion that he had behind them. His words were filled with love and affection. For him to confess his love in the most raw form, in front of our family and friends, was absolutely amazing. Another moment that I won’t forget is sitting with my husband at our table watching all of our guests dancing and enjoying themselves on the dance floor. It whas at that point that I realized how after 18 months of planning for our wedding, it turned out to be even better than I had envisioned.

From the Bride… Justin and I never knew we went to high school together until we met for the first time at our prom when I went with his best friend. Four years later, we met again through Justin’s college roommate, Andy, and the rest is history!

As soon as we got engaged, we knew we wanted to have an intimate and romantic wedding with our closest friends and family. It was important for the wedding to feel like “us” so we went the non-traditional route by having no bridal party, asked my sister to be our ring bearer, decided not to have a bouquet or garter toss and made it a point to play absolutely no cliché wedding songs. We also chose to do a first look and wrote our ten-minute ceremony where Andy officiated, making it all the more special because he’s seen our relationship grow from the beginning.

We had such a clear vision of the style of the wedding from day one as well. When we visited the Morton Arboretum we fell in love. Its natural beauty was the perfect backdrop for our “enchanted forest” theme. It boasted a unique space, breathtaking views and the convenience of housing the entire wedding in one location. We wanted to enhance the beauty of the Arboretum so we mixed a neutral color palette of white, dove grey, ice blue and blush with various textures. The style blended an ethereal romance with woodland details by combining lush floral arrangements, iced berries, birch accents, moss, twinkling lights and flowy chiffon and velvet fabric.

We made it a point to intertwine a ton of personalized details into the wedding. The word forever was the main inspiration because Justin told me he knew I was the one when the word forever suddenly had meaning. So it was incorporated into our save the dates, invitations, décor, vows and even the toasts. Because we got married in a library, our rings were tied in the first book Justin ever bought me, which he wrote an inscription in. So I wrote our love story on the cover and my vows on a page from the book, and inside I wrote my own inscription to Justin with the words, “Say You Will”. Everyone also knows we adore our rescue animals, so we added them to our cake topper and played homage to our cat Abe by getting Justin personalized Abe Lincoln cuff links. And as we expressed in our engagement shoot, coffee, particularly Starbucks, means a lot to us. So Starbucks was incorporated into our photos, cake topper, mini desserts and our favors which were chocolate covered espresso beans in Starbucks cups with a personalized logo I made. These were all little details, but were really special and truly made the wedding feel like “us”.

There wasn’t a lot of indoor winter wedding inspiration, so most of our ideas were from re-imagining various aspects of weddings we had seen on blogs and in magazines, as well as pulling from our own personal style and visiting my favorite Anthropologie locations for display ideas. Nearly all of the decor was DIY so we spent many long nights painting, crafting and putting together favors. I also designed and printed all of our paper goods and signage and hand drew the floral design that was carried throughout the wedding. It was a lot of hard work, but it was all worth it in the end because it was truly amazing to see all of our planning come together and we will forever cherish the moments of that day.

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Engagement sessions make my heart pitter patter more than normal, and that’s saying a lot. I just adore the idea of the first official shoot between two lovebirds, one they will look back on for years and years to come. And when that shoot is as darling as this one by Just Love Me Photography + Design, you know they will still love every image for years and years to come – which happens to up the ante on heart pitter pattering just that much more. See all the darling images right here!

From the Bride-to-Be… My fiance, Justin, and I are getting married at The Morton Arboretum in March, so we felt it was only fitting to shoot our engagement photos there. Neither of us take photos, ever, so having these photos taken was especially important to us. the Morton Arboretum was an amazing fit for our “Enchanted Forest” themed wedding. Having the photos taken at the Morton Arboretum was also a great opportunity for our guests to get a “sneak peek” of the location, as numerous guests have no idea what the Morton Arboretum is. We also wanted our photos to represent who we are as a couple in an environment that went perfectly with our wedding theme. In our photos, we really wanted our personalities to shine through. Please notice the photo with his headphones and dirty hat I bought him six years ago with me on my laptop — typical us! Justin also proposed with my ring in a Starbucks cup, since coffee has always had a special meaning to us as some of the only times we saw each other during college was for coffee dates at 9 p.m. after class, just so we could see each other, even if it was only for 10 minutes. To this day, we continue to have our weekly coffee date on Sunday mornings at Starbucks. :) Our photographers, Just Love Me Photography, did a beautiful job capturing our vision.

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It’s often a process for a bride to select the little white number that ends up being the one, but this super-amazingly talented bride decided to skip the shops, instead designing MAKING her wedding dress! To carry the sewing theme throughout, the couple stitched their invitations, programs and place cards getting their fingers (literally) on every.single element and detail! Maggie Fortson Photography had the pleasure of photographing this beautiful couple at the Morton Arboretum…the pretty party continues right here!

From Maggie Fortson Photography… Lauren and Derek are complete naturals in front of the camera! I was there with them, yet the photos made me feel as if I wasn’t because their interactions were so real. Genuine. There were just too many incredible moments in the day to count, and I loved every second of it! Getting the chance to photograph a wedding at The Morton Arboretum was a dream come true. With everything at one location, it made such a relaxed environment for taking photos without any rush. Every inch of that venue is stunning!

My jaw dropped over the handmade details that were so thoughtfully put together. You guys totally loved Lauren’s dress, right? She MADE it herself. You think I am kidding? Nope! I loved that they subtly carried the sewing theme throughout the wedding details too! They stitched the wedding brochures together, and they also stitched the guest seating cards too! Another favorite detail? The girls all wearing different dresses and the guys wearing different ties! This day was a dream to capture, and I am so proud of the images that came from it. Lauren and Derek, you two were a joy to get to know and photograph. I cannot express how thankful I am to have taken your wedding photos.